AJ Hackett: Boucing Tiger, Dancing Dragon

King of all things extreme, AJ Hackett, has led the first dragon dance walk across China’s 233m high Macao Tower. Hackett and a Chinese bungy enthusiast each led a team of…

Zealand of Approval

Waiheke retreat gets relaxed raves in Wallpaper: “There should be more lodges like Delamore. Abandoning the servere straight lines of urban architecture, this four-suite sanctuary is deliciously organic, setting off the rugged…

Charting the Edge

Sydney’s Morning Herald publishes its 2003 top-10 lists for global rovers with Aotearoa again destination du jour. The chart toppers – Wine: Marlborough (“with its combination of bush, mountains and coastline…

You Won’t Need a Blanket

Australia’s Sunday Telegraph stays at a hi-end bach: “Welcome to Blanket Bay, a spectacular lakeshore lodge hideaway 40 minutes’ drive north from Queenstown. It’s the paradise dream retreat of Tom Tusher,…

Waterbabies’ Paradise

Financial Express piece on watery escapes recommends canoeing the Tongaririo River, sea-kayaking in Doubtful Sound, and riding the Shotover Jet down south. Of special note is Fiordland’s “fairy tale like Hall…

Where the Wild Things Are

Boston Herald travel writer recommends the South Island to all thrill-seeking tourists, “whether they prefer their adrenaline rush natural or manmade.” An extensive tour includes Tairoa Head, Arthur’s Pass, Otira Gorge, and…

Whistle-stop NZ

Lonely Planet experts offer Brits-in-need a two week itinerary of NZ. Reader response: “A two week(!) trip to NZ? We’re UK bird-watchers who have just spent three months there. It’s…

Life on the (Geological) Edge

Times of India lists NZ as its readers’ third most popular summer holiday destination. “The ice age carved the exquisite fretwork of Fiordland and the Marlborough Sounds, huge tectonic forces pushed…

The Quiet Life

Observer recommends Paua Cottage in Russell to Britons seeking a seaside escape. “Wake up in wondrous solitude to the sun rising from the Pacific Ocean at Paua Cottage … At the…

Island for Hire

Observer‘s guide to rock-star living suggests hiring your own island getaway. Featured is Forsyth Island, Marlborough Sounds. “This is a great one for the active – the 2,100 acre island has…

It’s a Dirty Job, but Someone’s Got to Do It.

SMH travel writer tours NZ in the lap of luxury, reviewing the likes of Huka Lodge, Okiato, Kauri Cliffs and Whare Kea. The verdict? “Lodges provide some of the…

Screen-worthy Scenery

Baltimore Sun travel writer discovers the joys of the South Island road trip. “Driving on the South Island is not just to get you from one highlight to another – the…

Fact and Fantasy Collide in The Remarkables

Post-Gazette travel special includes NZ in its homage to Oscar-worthy locations. Special mention is given to The Remarkables, site of Dimrill Dale in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Clean and Clear?

New Zealand has been ranked third best in a United Nations survey of global water quality. Ironically, New Zealand was also fingered as one of the leading water-wasters in a recent…

Auckland: An Urban Paradise

Leap-frogging Sydney, Auckland is the fifth-best city in the world to live in, according to an annual survey by Mercer Human Resources Consulting. The ranking takes into account a variety of…

Blown Away by Windy City Styles

“Dull (never)” The Australian takes in the sights, sounds and tastes of Wellington in a glowing weekend feature. On a “perfect summer’s day” they breeze through cultural institutions (Pataka Museum and Te…

Harper’s Hot List

New Zealand destinations feature strongly in veteran resort-rater Andrew Harper’s recommendations for 2003. Huka Lodge (Taupo) and Blanket Bay (Glenorchy) crop up in both the Top Ten International Resort Hotels…

Get Thee to a Nunnery

Detroit Free Press recommends Marlborough’s Old Saint Mary’s Convent in a feature on romantic getaways “off the beaten track.” “Lavender, vineyards and olive groves surround the property, and there’s a pond you…

Best Beach

Waikiki, Daytona, Copacabana … 90 Mile Beach. Northland’s prized stretch was voted one of the world’s top 20 beaches in an Expedia poll of thousands of British travellers. Winning poll-participant Pete…

More of Southland’s Finest

“If the landscape above the Okaka mountain hut had been the work of a garden designer it would have won Chelsea.” Times writer roams the “enchanted forest” of the Tuatapere Hump…

Scuba-duper

NZ waters crop up three times in the Observer‘s list of the world’s best scuba spots. Hauraki Reef and Kaikoura Canyon are recommended for mammal enthusiasts, while a night-dive at Rikoriko…

Inside information

Harvard’s popular Let’s Go series has updated its NZ guide to include such hidden gems as Wanaka’s Cinema Paradiso. Writer Mark Kirby: “In the new feature ‘The Local Story,’  was able…

Rolling With It

The best supporting location features in the Observer‘s list of 20 dream holidays for the 21st century. “Hobbit fever has made NZ one of the hottest destinations of the new century,…

Out of the Primordial Mud

NY Times travel writer witnesses first hand the impact of Cup-fever on the cosmopolitan City of Sails and the hotel, restaurant, and entertainment legacy it leaves behind. “Auckland feels like a…

Pleasure Island

Scotsman travel writer leaves the Southern Alps to Frodo and heads for the sunny shores of Waiheke Island, where bach culture and Gucci collide. “All kinds of homely structures are clinging to…

When Fact and Fantasy Collide…

Confused travellers the world over are trying to book holidays to Middle Earth’s fictional locations. According to popular internet site Yahoo Travel, Rivendell and Mordor are frequently entered as search commands. Yahoo…

New Jump City

AJ Hackett Bungy is soon to open the world’s first harbour bridge jump site. The latest addition to the Hackett franchise will be located on Auckland’s harbour bridge – already a…

Superior Slopes

Mt Ruapehu makes the top five in pro-boarder Neil McNaab’s list of favourite descents. “While most people head to the South Island and the areas around Queenstown, the snow-clad volcano Mount…

NZ: Lonely Planet Hot Spot 2003

Proving that NZ is not only destination of choice for Louis Vuitton carrying America’s Cup acolytes, Lonely Planet, bible of the young and Birkenstocked, picks NZ as the grand winner in its…

Satisfaction Guaranteed

NZ was voted third most popular holiday destination in the NFO Plog 2002 American Travel Survey of over 9,000 U.S households. The report gages the most rewarding vacation experiences, as opposed to…

Shacking Up in Macetown

The Times takes a tour of the world’s ghost towns and stops off in Macetown, NZ. You could be forgiven for not knowing the name: all that remains of Otago’s 1860’s…

Keeping Up Appearances

New York Times heads to NZ to find out if the hype is for real and are pleasantly surprised. “Always seen as ‘clean and green,’ NZ is enjoying a special premium…

Eichardt’s en Vogue

Australian Vogue‘s A-Z of deluxe travel destinations includes the historic Eichardt’s Private Hotel in Queenstown. Built in 1873 and recently refurbished by new owners, Eichardt’s contains “a series of luxurious interiors,…

Trans-Tasman Trippers

SMH‘s summary of Australia and her people for the year 2002 notes a 14% rise in holidays across the Tasman. The dramatically increased figure made NZ the most popular travel destination…

Edenic Eye Candy

In-depth spread on NZ in The Philippine Star dubs us “the adventure playground that thinks it’s a country”: “The beauty, the serenity, the vivacity of the greens, the freshness of the…

Canterbrian Miss October

NZ takes out the October slot of  Lonely Planet‘s year planner for 2003. “Take one of the world’s great train journeys, the Tranzalpine, across the southern alps the varied…

Co-host Clark

Helen Clark appeared on America’s top-rating Today Show to promote an upcoming Discovery Channel program on NZ. New Zealand: The Royal Tour sees the PM take American presenter Peter…

“What a Beauty”

Confessions of a (former) one-eyed Aussie: “Abandon all those negative clichés. NZ has changed To go to a country so deeply etched in the Australian consciousness by cliché and misinformation…

Frontier Neuseeland

44-page cover spread on NZ in December’s GEO Saison – Germany’s premiere travel magazine. The article, “New Zealand – Setting out into the Big Freedom,” focuses on ex-pat Germans in Aotearoa,…

Great southern (is)Land

The South Island was ranked fourth on the BBC‘s “50 places to see before you die,” clocking in behind the Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef, and Disney World. The list…

A Walk in Good Company

“On the South Island, it’s fun and games with Kiwis on a privately operated trail that delivers fine coastal scenery, rustic lodgings and, happily, no crowds.” LA Times writer discovers the…

Hostel Heaven

LA Times‘ Youth Beat offers tips for the budget traveller. “NZ has a reputation for having the world’s best hostels, and one thing that helps to keep the hostel owners on…

NZ: High-end Bottom of the World Destination

Turning conventional wisdom upside down New York Times finds that:”isolation, long an obstacle to international tourism, has become a plus in the post-Sept. 11 world. New Zealand, long promoted as clean…

Brazarre

In the Sydney Morning Herald: “New Zealand’s most uplifting tourist attraction, a brassiere-hung fence in the Cardrona valley in Otago is being restored. Farmer John Lee will wire 400 bras -…

“If It’s Made in Auckland It Looks Like the Future”

Spurred by the America’s Cup (“couldn’t be in a more fabulous setting”) Travel + Leisure checks out the evolving new world styles of Auckland: “The city has evolved over…

“Pastoral Eden”

Writer Luba Vangelova takes a road trip up the “stunningly beautiful” east coast of the North Island – a journey described as “temporal as well as geographical.” Vangelova muses over the…

History Resurfaces

A letter penned by Captain Cook announcing his return from Australasian waters has been discovered stuck behind a picture frame at Brancaster Hall, England. The 200-year old missive “recalls the grim…

NZ Condé Nast Hot Spots

US Conde Nast Traveler’s influential “hot list” names the Auckland Hilton, Eagle’s Nest in the Bay of Islands, and the lodge at Kauri Cliffs as the premier…

“Land of the Long White Run”

NZ slopes get the thumbs up from Oz ski-buffs. The Southern Alps: “bigger than the Swiss, French and Austrian Alps combined” – are praised for their variety, beauty, and value for the…

Idyll

Vogue Living (Australia) visits the gardens of the exlusive Huka Lodge, designed by Suzanne Turley. “With brilliant green lawns punctuated by conifers, native trees and sub-tropical plants, the serene garden of…

Queenstown on Cruise Control

“Adrenalin, who needs it?” John Westbrooke discovers the secret to an enjoyable Queenstown holiday for over-60’s, recommending cheese-tasting, wine tours, and gondolier rides over the ubiquitous bungee jump. Not an extreme…

Airborne Frodo-philes

“They can visit Lothlorien They can smell the smells and see the sights that Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee felt.” After months spent ferrying cast and crew around NZ, Milford-based…

From Here to Eternity

“Tinkling ivories, crashing waves, visit volcanoes, rainforests and surf-pounded beaches where you can re-enact scenes from The Piano.” The Independent’s “one hour from …” series spreads its compass around Auckland and as…

Summer Time and the Living’s Cheap

Taupo makes the list of top-10 alternate destinations for US students traveling abroad for their summer. Up there with Cappadocia, Kuala Lumpur, and Krakow, Taupo is recommended for its extreme outdoor…

Fish Out of Water

“In my native NZ, a rain-free day is a small miracle, so my sodden soul soars when I feel that dry heat and behold those azure skies.” Desert-worshipping Kiwi Amanda…

Postcard-spotting?

Lynn Barber leaves the trains at home and follows the postcard route through godzone, finds it to be “truly paradise” but also close to 100% boring. “To appreciate NZ you need…